Yay, I’m done! Well, sort of. I’ve now officially seen as many movies as I needed to to make my top ten of 2018, which will be coming on Saturday. At the end of March I’ll be posting one more official batch of movie reviews from last year, but none of them made my top ten, so it’s just to finish things off (I’m a completist). Thank you for reading!

BORDER * * * (Dir. Ali Abbasi)

Ever think you’d want to see trolls in love?

If you’ve ever wondered how the mythology of trolls would manifest itself in the grounded, real world that we live in, this dark fantasy is your chance to find out. A very unsettling, strange yet intriguing journey of self-discovery is at its heart, as Tina, a woman who appears to have some kind of facial deformity or physical condition, works as a security guard on the Swedish border. She’s good at her job because she can literally smell if someone has something hidden- not just drugs or illegal goods but the shame, guilt and rage that swells inside a person. She puts her unusual and very handy skills to use in helping the police track down pedophiles, but one day she meets someone coming into the country whom she’s instantly drawn to. His name is Vore, and he’s just like her, a man who seems to have the same condition, who also likes to eat insects and can intrinsically communicate with wild animals. Tina has felt alone all her life, but no longer. Vore teaches her what she really is and how she really fits into this world- and even though it’s nothing she’d imagined, somehow she’s always known. This movie glides at a slow enough pace so that you can wonder what it’s all about and where it’s going, maintaining a mysterious, slightly surreal atmosphere that reaches its peak in one of the wildest sex scenes you’ve ever seen on film. It’s not a frightening movie though- it is in fact, sympathetic as you grow to identify with Tina, who is a highly original female character, a heroine you can even imagine in other settings. I can picture it now- the troll who helps cops find crooks could be a great pilot in this age where any idea can be adapted into a series.

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS * * 1/2 (Dir. Josie Rourke)

Saoirse Ronan tries on a Scottish accent for her take on Mary vs. Elizabeth

As costume dramas go, you could do worse than Mary, Queen of Scots. It has a very somber, grave tone, yet doesn’t dwell too much on politics and takes the history seriously. It also benefits from a spirited performance from Saoirse Ronan as the fiery, 18-year-old queen who had it in her to challenge her cousin Elizabeth to the throne of England and never regretted it, even as she went to her death. But it also feels a bit flat and drab, unfortunately draped with a dark, rusty color palette that may be intended to evoke the dreariness of 16th century Scotland but feels more like we’re trapped in a series of rooms filtered through a dirty window. Despite strong performances and an entertaining battle of wills, this isn’t a film that really sticks with you after it’s over- there are not enough memorable scenes or gripping moments in Mary’s life as depicted (one exception may be the brutal execution of her male chamber attendant, but even that scene goes on a bit too long, as if director Josie Rourke knew this was the most lively scene in the movie and wanted to milk the gore). Margot Robbie is mostly fine as Elizabeth, but let’s talk about the makeup for a second. For some reason, every scene piles on an increasingly distracting makeup job (smallpox, then the smallpox scars, then the powdered face/wig, terrible haircut, etc.) that holds her back from disappearing into the role like those who came before her (Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett in particular). Instead, you keep wondering if this was their way of de-beautifying Robbie as much as possible. In the end, the message of the film is that these two fierce queens could have had it all if the hapless men around them hadn’t gotten in their way so much and derailed their plans for greatness. Isn’t that always the way of it.

Lots of Spider-Men finally make for a different kind of superhero movie

For anyone who’s wanted an American animated film to actually look, feel and sound different from the consistent Disney/Pixar corporate model of family fun, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse comes as an exuberant, joyful surprise. In fact, it’s the first good Spider-Man movie Sony has released since Spider-Man 2 in 2004. From a story and screenplay by Phil Lord, of Lego Movie fame, this movie is a vibrant visual experience that looks like nothing else you’ve seen in the world of animation for a long time. The screen is painted by a comic book inspired aesthetic filled with colors that pop and a schematic that sees characters move around and interact in different rhythms. Side-swipes and air bubbles pop up to denote inner thoughts and the pace, while quick, is not so Lego Movie frantic as that franchise, leaving room for an emotional story with fully realized characters. The lead is teenager Miles Morales, who lives in a world where Spider-Man has been at his job for long while. When the hero dies suddenly, and Miles himself is bitten by a radioactive spider, he must figure out how to take over the mantle, but he has a lot of help, thanks to an inter-dimensional breach that brings alternate universe Spider-Men (and women) into his world to help him save the day and face the challenges of his own origin story. Such a creative and innovative vision that this movie presents is paired with an original idea that finally puts a real spin on the standard superhero origin and makes a joke out of it. There are a myriad of obscure comic book references but not an overload of Lord and Miller humor, thanks to sharp direction (from three directors) and a commitment to Miles as a real kid with feelings and a desire to do his best by his new powers and his family (we know the credo by now). My favorite alt-Spider-Man is an over the hill Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), who steals the show as a laconic mentor type, but he’s almost shown up by Nicolas Cage as “Spider-Noir,” in a hilarious sight gag that makes the most of Cage’s famous eccentric energy. American animators are rarely allowed by the studios to take the kinds of chances this movie does, both visually and storywise, but it all pays off beautifully in the pure dynamic pop art creation that resulted from the risks.

EVERYBODY KNOWS * * 1/2 (Dir. Asghar Farhadi)

An attractive couple no matter what the crisis

Asghar Farhadi can weave a web of human drama like nobody’s business. The characters and the family situations he sets up in his films and then strips down to their core always make for a fascinating, intriguing mix of mystery, revelation and the questioning of human nature. Everybody Knows is his first Spanish-language film, starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem as just two of the people caught up in a criminal incident that occurs at a family wedding in a small town in Spain. The event in question leads to a pretty straightforward whodunit involving a large ensemble cast and various potential suspects in a family where long buried resentments and issues rise to the surface in the wake of crisis. The actors bring their A-game (as they usually do for Farhadi), but this time, the resulting conclusion is a bit underwhelming compared to his recent films. Cruz and Bardem are compelling as always, but a crucial reveal towards the end of the movie is fairly predictable, and the tidy result of this mystery leaves you wondering, was that it? Farhadi usually has deeper themes lying in wait under the surface of his family dramas that keep them from being lurid or overly melodramatic, but those deeper issues seem absent from this one, which leads me to think that in the absence of a larger meaning, the mystery itself needed to be more melodramatic in order to carry more weight as a thriller. The story is interesting as you watch it, but you’re left waiting for a dramatic punch that never quite comes.

So after the incredible success of Bohemian Rhapsody, are we in for a wave of musical biopics about 70’s rock stars? The next one up is Rocketman, which looks like it’s pretty much following the Bohemian formula (it’s also from director Dexter Fletcher, the guy who finished up the movie after Bryan Singer was fired). But apparently this one will have big fantasy musical numbers in it, and I do appreciate that Taron Egerton does his own singing (he sounds good!). It’s coming out May 31st.

Onto the acting categories. I basically feel that there are two locks here, one frontrunner and one wild card. Read on for my predictions.

BEST ACTOR

Can’t help but think people are voting more for Freddie Mercury than Rami Malek

Christian Bale, Vice

Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born

Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate

Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

So, there’s really no point in predicting anyone other than Rami Malek. The most important precursors were all won by him, from the Golden Globe to the SAG and BAFTA awards. Christian Bale won the Critics Choice award, but the industry groups of SAG and BAFTA are far more important. I happen to not be a big fan of this performance (Cooper is probably my favorite of this bunch actually), but I can’t argue with the precursors. It’s his. I also just want to note that this will be the 16th time in the last 20 years that Best Actor went to the lead role in a biopic. Yeah. Looks like the key to winning awards is playing a real life person- after all, if there’s no actual person to compare it to, how do you know it’s good acting, right?

Winner: Rami Malek

Alternate: Christian Bale

BEST ACTRESS

Hopefully, 7th time’s the charm for Glenn Close

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Glenn Close, The Wife

Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Lady Gaga, A Star is Born

Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Okay, so this win I’m pretty sure is Glenn Close’s, but unlike in Best Actor, there is some chance for an upset. Olivia Colman won the BAFTA, which has occasionally prefaced an Oscar win in the past in this category. British voters love that performance (even though it’s a supporting role, at least based on screen time). But I’m going to say that the SAG win weighs things more in Glenn’s favor this year, mostly as a career award (although she was very good in The Wife). As for anyone else, it’s not likely.

Winner: Glenn Close

Alternate: Olivia Colman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali will win his 2nd Oscar in just 3 years

Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott, A Star is Born

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Sam Rockwell, Vice

This is like the Best Actor race, except even more locked. Ali has won virtually everything, the BFCA, Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA. He will win this award- the only possible reason he wouldn’t is if anyone thought it was too soon after his first Oscar win (for Moonlight two years ago). But they won’t- Green Book is still popular and well liked, despite the various controversies surrounding it, and none of that falls on the actors. It’s hard to even make a case for anyone else here, because it’s so unlikely.

Winner: Mahershala Ali

Alternate: Sam Elliott (I pick him mostly due to his veteran status as a character actor for over 50 years, and if anyone wants to give A Star is Born recognition in a major category, this could be the place)

Dark Horse: Richard E. Grant (also a working actor who’s been around since the 1980s- he’s also been campaigning pretty heavily this season, so it’s a possibility)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Rachel Weisz is really the lead of this movie, which could work to her advantage, and her last Oscar win in this category was almost 15 years ago

Amy Adams, Vice

Marina de Tavira, Roma

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone, The Favourite

Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

Okay, now this is the one I’m actually really shaky on. This category in particular is often ripe for upsets, if they happen in the acting races. Regina King was the critics favorite and early frontrunner- she won the BFCA and Golden Globe award. BUT…she was then not even nominated at the actual industry awards- SAG and BAFTA. That alone shows weakness, at least on the part of her film- are enough people watching Beale Street? The SAG award went to a non-nominee, so that’s irrelevant this year. Then the BAFTA went to a previous winner in this category, Rachel Weisz, and that gives me pause. The Favourite IS being seen, it has 10 nominations to Beale Street’s three, and British voters will vote for that film somewhere. Rachel Weisz is really a lead role in the film too, being frauded into supporting here. There’s a real chance she takes it. And if vote splitting occurs between her and co-star Emma Stone, there’s also a chance for a stunner in Roma’s Marina de Tavira coming out of nowhere and winning, since Roma also has 10 nominations and is a heavy frontrunner for Best Picture, which often takes an acting award in a supporting category. The only real argument for King after those industry snubs is that people in Hollywood like her so much they’re just checking off her name, but if she wins she’ll be only the second person to ever win after being snubbed by SAG and BAFTA (the first was Marcia Gay Harden for Pollock, way back in 2000, almost twenty years ago). I’m torn.

This was one of the movies that made a critical splash at Sundance last month, and it’s coming out in May. It’s a bit of a family affair, with Tilda Swinton co-starring alongside her daughter, Honor Swinton Byrne in what looks like a lush romantic drama. The critics really went nuts for it and it won the Grand Jury Prize of the festival, so keep an eye out for it.

Today we’re doing the screenplays, costumes, production design and music categories.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Favourite’s screenplay is definitely the most original

The Favourite

First Reformed

Green Book

Roma

Vice

Oh boy, the writing awards are a crapshoot this year. The precursors split all over the place. Green Book won the Golden Globe, First Reformed won the Critics Choice, The Favourite won at BAFTA and a non-nominee, Eighth Grade, won the WGA. Of those, the BAFTA and WGA are the actual industry voters, so they’re more important, but what does that tell us? Well, I think it says that Green Book is not a sure thing, or it would have beaten a non-nominee at WGA. But honestly, any one of these could probably win. I think The Favouritemight have the edge, as its screenplay is considered very witty and literate, so I’m going with that.

Winner: The Favourite

Alternate: Green Book

Dark Horse: First Reformed (this could happen- Paul Schrader, the writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, is revered and has never won, or even been nominated for an Oscar, but this is the only nomination the movie got, so it’s a long shot against four Best Picture nominees)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Rooting for Spike Lee to get his first Oscar as co-writer of BlacKkKlansman

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BlacKkKlansman

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

If Beale Street Could Talk

A Star is Born

Again, a shot in the dark. The Critics Choice went to Beale Street, the Scripter prize went to the non-nominated Leave No Trace, BAFTA went to BlacKkKlansman and WGA went to Can You Ever Forgive Me?… so what should we pick? I’m sticking with BlacKkKlansman- I’m assuming that voters know that Spike Lee has never won an Oscar and this is his big chance. It also has more top nominations than those other films (except A Star is Born, but that’s won nothing and is a third remake).

Winner: BlacKkKlansman

Alternate: Can You Ever Forgive Me? (gotta go with the WGA winner I guess)

Costumes and production design are kind of killing me, because I really think it’s between Black Panther and The Favourite, and it’s like a 50/50 shot for either of them. BAFTA really liked The Favourite, which won both, and that’s the period piece look that’s traditionally favored in these categories throughout all of Oscar history, really. But then again, Mad Max did win these techs for its sci-fi inspired stuff, so are the Oscars changing a little? And the Academy liked Black Panther a lot more than BAFTA did (only one nomination there) and they’re going to give it something. But is it this one or costumes? Or both? Or am I wrong and it’s The Favourite for both? Agggh. The guilds are no help, because they both won there in separate categories (fantasy and period piece). Gonna have to guess.

Winner: Black Panther

Alternate: The Favourite

COSTUME DESIGN

Betting on the colorful costumes of Black Panther to prevail over the more traditional Favourite garb

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

The Favourite

Mary Poppins Returns

Mary, Queen of Scots

This is the exact same situation as Production Design. BAFTA went for The Favourite, and the Costume guild split between that and Black Panther in separate genre categories. I’m going to go with Panther for both of these on a gut feeling.

Winner: Black Panther

Alternate: The Favourite

ORGINAL SCORE

This category is totally up in the air, so I’m betting on Panther once more

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

If Beale Street Could Talk

Isle of Dogs

Mary Poppins Returns

I’m still angry that the year’s best score, First Man, was horrifyingly snubbed here. How could they? What were they thinking? Without that score nominated, the second best is the music from If Beale Street Could Talk, but I really do wonder how many voters are actually watching that movie. It only got three nominations. The BAFTA winner does not help at all, since that went to A Star is Born. I don’t know, I’m honestly thinking Black Panther for this. The movie could win several techs, and this may be one of them.

Winner: Black Panther

Alternate: If Beale Street Could Talk

Dark Horse: BlacKkKlansman (the jazzy 70’s inspired score was memorable in this one)

ORIGINAL SONG

Likely to be A Star is Born’s only award of the night

“All the Stars,” Black Panther

“I’ll Fight,” RBG

“The Place Where Lost Things Go,” Mary Poppins Returns

“Shallow,” A Star is Born

“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

So this has to be Shallow. It won a couple Grammys, it was a massive hit, it’s Lady Gaga. It’s also A Star is Born’s only real shot at winning anything, which is a far cry from when it was labeled an early frontrunner back in the fall. It’s got this.

So there you have it. The last guild, the CDG, has split the costume awards between Oscar nominees Black Panther and The Favourite as expected, leaving us no hint as to where that category goes on Oscar night. Your guess is as good as mine between those two.

Today it’s the documentary, foreign and animated film categories, along with editing, cinematography and makeup.

DOCUMENTARY

Could be RBG, but I think Free Solo has the edge

Free Solo

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Minding the Gap

Of Fathers and Sons

RBG

I think this award will go to Free Solo, the thrilling and very accessible feat of human daring captured on film. Ever since the Mr. Rogers doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor was snubbed for a nomination, I thought RBG was the sentimental favorite, but now I’m not so sure. It used to be that only members of the documentary branch could vote for this category, but with the whole Academy now voting, it always goes to the most accessible and popular of the nominees. That would support RBG winning, but also Free Solo, and since Free Solo just won the BAFTA award (and some other guild awards in documentary), I’m going with that.

Winner: Free Solo

Alternate: RBG

Dark Horse: Minding the Gap (it probably doesn’t have a chance, but I love this movie and it was my favorite of the nominees)

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

This one should be a lock for the Best Picture nominee

Capernaum (Lebanon)

Cold War (Poland)

Never Look Away (Germany)

Roma (Mexico)

Shoplifters (Japan)

Well, it has to be Roma, right? The Best Picture nominee that has 10 nominations overall, why wouldn’t it win here? Well, the counterargument is that they might give this award to a movie that won’t possibly be winning Best Picture as well, like Cold War, which also got nominated in Director and Cinematography (or Shoplifters, the actual best nominee here next to Roma). I suppose that’s a possibility but it’s hard for me to see how people don’t check off the most revered foreign film of the year, just because it might also win Best Picture. I think it wins.

Winner: Roma

Alternate: Cold War

ANIMATED FILM

Spider-Man has swept the season- will the Academy follow suit?

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I have to go with Spider-Man. It won the Golden Globe, BFCA, Annie and BAFTA awards. There’s always a chance the Academy screws this up and goes with the Disney/Pixar hit like they always do (it’s been many years since they haven’t, and when they don’t it’s usually because the Disney movie either isn’t nominated or got weak reviews- Incredibles 2 did not). But I think Spider-Verse should have this.

Winner: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Alternate: Incredibles 2

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The sweeping cinematography of Roma would make Alfonso Cuaron the first director to win this award

Cold War

The Favourite

Never Look Away

Roma

A Star is Born

Roma has this one, I think. Cold War won the guild (ASC), so that’s possible, but Roma won the BAFTA, which is like the Academy in that a wider pool of voters was choosing, not just cinematographers.

Winner: Roma

Alternate: Cold War

EDITING

Editing is a close one- I think Vice takes it over Bohemian Rhapsody, but just barely

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Vice

Ehhh. This one’s tough actually. Bohemian Rhapsody took the guild award (the ACE Eddie) and that’s usually a pretty big deal. But Vice took the BAFTA, which again, is a wider pool of voters like AMPAS will be, and not just editors. I think a big group of people look at a movie and tend to think that most editing means best editing. So I’m going with Vice.

Winner: Vice

Alternate: Bohemian Rhapsody

MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

The makeup in Vice is likely to prevail

Border

Mary, Queen of Scots

Vice

First of all, I don’t understand why this is the only category with three nominees- other movies have plenty of makeup every year, and yet for some reason this always happens at the Oscars. But I’m pretty sure Vice will win- old age makeup and fat suits are always big with Academy voters. Plus more of them have probably seen Vice over the other two (shout out to the nomination for Border though- that troll makeup on those people looked real).

Seth Rogen seems to have a long running fantasy of charming a woman who appears lightyears out of his league- in this case, not only is she Charlize Theron, but also the US Secretary of State running for president who used to babysit him. Couldn’t possible aim any higher, could he? The joke is that the premise is unrealistic, but it also seems to be that Theron really does just want to be charmed by the stoner guy that Rogen plays in most of his movies. Don’t know if I’d buy it in this one.

The first part of my official Oscar predictions for 2019 are as usual, the sound, effects and short awards. Let’s get straight into it, shall we?

VISUAL EFFECTS

Tough category, but the actual visual effects were most memorable in this Spielberg movie

Avengers: Infinity War

Christopher Robin

First Man

Ready Player One

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Unfortunately, the precursor awards did not help us out much on this one. The VES Society is notoriously unreliable here and they went for Avengers, while BAFTA chose Black Panther, which wasn’t even nominated for the Oscar. So I’m kind of at a loss. My gut tells me it could be Avengers, First Man or Ready Player One- the latter is probably the most deserving based on the effects themselves, but with the whole Academy voting, will it just be the most widely seen movie? That would default to Avengers, I assume. But Marvel movies don’t tend to win this category, so I’m honestly not sure. I should probably go with my instinct and base it on the effects alone.

Winner: Ready Player One

Alternate: Avengers: Infinity War

Dark Horse: First Man

SOUND MIXING

Musicals tend to win sound

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

A Star is Born

Every year I get more and more frustrated that they still haven’t combined the two sound categories into one award and just called it Best Sound. I promise you the majority of the voters have no idea what the difference is between mixing and editing, and even though I’ve looked it up myself, I constantly forget it. So there’s only the hint that the winner of the sound awards is usually the same movie, and usually either the action or musical nominee of the bunch. In this case, I think that points to Bohemian Rhapsody (it won BAFTA and CAS, the sound guild). So I’m choosing it for both.

Winner: Bohemian Rhapsody

Alternate: A Star is Born

SOUND EDITING

There’s a chance for A Quiet Place on this one, but I’m sticking with the musical

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

A Quiet Place

Roma

Sticking with my usual prediction of one movie for both of these, I have to go with Bohemian Rhapsody. I do feel like there’s a chance for A Quiet Place here (it won one of the top two prizes for this at the guild awards for sound editing- the other was Bohemian), but I’m just sticking to my rule.

Winner: Bohemian Rhapsody

Alternate: A Quiet Place

ANIMATED SHORT

A bit of a risk, but I think this short was the best

Animal Behaviour

Bao

Late Afternoon

One Small Step

Weekends

So I did my homework and actually watched all of these (they’re available on youtube), and I really think One Small Step is the most obvious, heart tugging, Disney-like short of the bunch, even though it’s not actually Disney. But most people seem to think the quirky Pixar one, Bao, is the frontrunner. Pixar almost never wins this category though, so I’m not sure where that’s coming from. I don’t think Bao is so much better than their past shorts that they’ve lost with. The people who vote on these tend to be the animators who’ve actually seen them all, so I’m going to go with my gut.

Winner: One Small Step

Alternate: Bao

Dark Horse: Weekends (won the Annie award, but not against this competition)

LIVE ACTION SHORT

This is a total wild guess on my part

Detainment

Fauve

Marguerite

Mother

Skin

I have not seen any of these, so I’m gonna have to guess. All I know is that Detainment is being protested by the real life person whose child it was based on, so that one’s out. All of these are apparently about children in jeopardy of some sort, so that’s not a clue either. I’m going with Marguerite, because I heard that’s it’s the only one with a semi-happy ending, which makes it stand out from the bunch.

Winner: Marguerite

Alternate: Fauve

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Currently playing on Netflix if you want to check it out

Black Sheep

End Game

Lifeboat

A Night at the Garden

Period. End of Sentence.

I watched A Night at the Garden on youtube and it’s creepy yet very effective. But it’s the shortest one (seven minutes) and made up of archival footage entirely, so I don’t know if it will win. However, it does leave a big impact in its short running time, a reminder of Fascist sentiment in America in 1939, and Fox News wouldn’t let an ad run for it on their network, which kinda says it all. Could it pull it off? Still not sure. Period. End of Sentence. is currently on Netflix and has a strong pro-feminist message, so that could be the winner too.

Whoa! Eleventh hour plot twist! The Writers Guild veered away from the supposed Oscar frontrunners in Green Book and BlacKkKlansman to go instead with Bo Burnham’s film Eighth Grade (not even an Oscar nominee) for original screenplay and Can You Ever Forgive Me? in adapted. This is a huge deal, because it’s extremely rare for a non-Oscar nominee to win the WGA at all, and I’m not sure what that means for BlacKkKlansman’s chances on Oscar night, since all it has going in now is the BAFTA award. In fact, as far as precursors go, the writing awards are all over the place: Green Book won the Golden Globe, If Beale Street Could Talk won the Critics Choice, Leave No Trace (not Oscar-nominated) won the Scripter prize, BlacKkKlansman and The Favourite (not eligible for WGA) won at BAFTA, and now this result. We’re shooting in the dark on Oscar night for both screenplay awards.

WGA Winners

Adapted Screenplay: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Original Screenplay: Eighth Grade

MPSE Golden Reel Winners

A Quiet Place was unsurprisingly lauded for its sound

In other news, the guild awards for sound editing came in tonight, and Bohemian Rhapsody and A Quiet Place took the top two, with Spider-Man winning a couple as well. I’d probably stick with Bohemian for both sound Oscars, just to be safe.

The final guilds are weighing in this weekend, and Vice solidifies its Oscar frontrunner status in the makeup & hairstyling category with wins tonight from the Makeup Guild:

Vice is recognized for its makeup & hairstyling

Best Contemporary Makeup: A Star is BornBest Contemporary Hairstyling: Crazy Rich AsiansBest Period and/or Character Makeup: ViceBest Period and/or Character Hairstyling: Mary Queen of ScotsBest Special Makeup Effects: Vice

Meanwhile, the Cinema Audio Society (the guild for sound mixing) gave their top award for sound mixing in a live action feature film to Bohemian Rhapsody, which should wrap up the Sound Mixing Oscar for that movie after winning BAFTA last week. I would probably bet on it for Sound Editing too, but that guild will announce its winners tomorrow, so we’ll see if it differs.

Getting closer and closer to the end! It was a pack of some really good ones this week, which shows why I really can’t make my top ten without seeing as much as possible from the whole year. Missing out on Shoplifters (and Free Solo, to an extent) would have been a crime. Next week should be my last reviews for 2018 (or at least enough to finally make my ten best- there may be some stragglers included in the first batch of 2019 next month). Enjoy!

HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING * * * (Dir. RaMell Ross)

A new kind of look at the South

An entirely different kind of documentary, a near experimental film that challenges an audience to appreciate the brief glimpses into the lives of black people in Hale County, Alabama, along with some striking imagery, fashioned together in a way that doesn’t necessarily tell a story but provides you with intimate moments nonetheless. RaMell Ross makes his first foray into documentaries, as a prologue tells you that he took his camera out when he moved to Alabama to coach basketball and teach photography in 2009. From there, the camera does the work for us, as we are treated to the barest moments in the lives of several people just briefly introduced with names that flash by on the screen (toddler Kyrie steals the show) as Ross catches them playing basketball, giving birth, moving, driving, being pulled over and simply living life in a mostly impoverished rural area. These moments capture joy, grief, boredom, hopefulness, disdain, and show the beauty and ugliness of the every day, but the most striking images are of a bonfire blowing smoke through the trees, a half moon lit up in a phosphorescent glow, and a brief look at an old plantation home juxtaposed with black and white minstrel footage. There’s a kind of poetic realism in Ross’s look at the Black Belt in the South, an abstract yet intimate vision of a part of America rarely seen in films or television. It’s worth seeing for these cherished snapshots of real life happening outside your typical vantage point.

THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN * * * (Dir. David Lowery)

Two acting icons find an easy chemistry together

Is it possible for a movie to exist solely as a paean to the everlasting cool of Robert Redford? David Lowery certainly gives it a shot with this laconic, laidback, smooth tribute to the man, the legend, the icon. And why not? Certainly his very presence alone is enough to carry a movie, no plot necessary. He does get the barest threadbones of a story, that of a career criminal named Forrest Tucker who just loves robbing banks, and now at the ripe old age of 74, wants to continue doing just that. Of course he’s not a violent criminal or anything. He’s a “gentleman” bank robber, who flashes his never used gun and smilingly asks for the money, a scenario in which everyone always obligingly offers it. Wouldn’t you? Senior citizen or not, if Robert Redford, still smooth and charming as ever, politely asks you to hand over the loot, you’d do it. Sure you would. Set in 1981 (purposely as a throwback to the height of Redford’s own career I think), Tucker and his occasional partners in crime (Danny Glover and Tom Waits) are pursued by a not exactly dogged, but interested and half admiring detective (Casey Affleck) across several states, while Tucker pursues a romance with Sissy Spacek, a local widow who seems to have no problem with his occupation. She won’t commit any crimes herself, but she’s lived a life and is charmed by him too. Their budding romance is the sweetest and most natural part of the movie, as the cop’s pursuit is a bit halfhearted. Casey Affleck looks on the verge of falling asleep in every scene and only comes alive when he and Redford come face to face- you can practically feel his giddiness at just sharing the screen with him. But that’s how we all feel, isn’t it? Redford’s star presence and near seven decade career is one to be revered, and if the reports are true that this will be his final film role, he could not have gone out with any more fitting a salutation. The movie is as cool and unbothered as he is, and will ever be.

FREE SOLO * * * 1/2 (Dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin)

Facing death on the cliff- this one deserves its IMAX treatment

If part of the purpose of documentary filmmaking is to capture real events as they occur, then the last act of Free Solo is a miracle in and of itself, having been caught on film at all. One of the most dangerous activities known to man is free soloing- the act of mountain climbing without a rope. One of the most successful athletes in this field is Alex Honnold, a 33-year-old climber who agreed to have a film crew follow him as he trained to make the climb up El Capitan, a rock formation in Yosemite National Valley, and become the first human to free solo it successfully. The film gets some pretty stunning footage of the mountains and cliffs alone, but does not shy away from the ethics of even making a movie about this activity- as co-director Jimmy Chin says on camera, this is a massive risk, as there’s a better than even shot they will capture the death of their subject, which they and he know well before going into this. But the movie is also a character study of the kind of person who would want to partake in these death-defying climbs, and Alex himself provides an eccentric oddball portraiture of what we suppose it must take to be a successful climber. He’s rigid and unemotional, robotically focused and mostly fearless. He acknowledges that El Capitan is scary but he doesn’t seem to feel fear of anything and attempts only minimally to imitate the human emotions of people he sees around him. His girlfriend Sanni tries to be supportive in the face of his void, emotionless state of being, but you can’t help but wonder how much more she can put up with. All of this makes for fascinating viewing for the first two thirds, but the real achievement of the movie is the gripping final act, as you watch a miraculous feat of human daring captured on film. Anyone will feel the heart pounding anxiety and unbearable suspense, despite knowing that this film would probably not have been released in the event of a tragic ending, like most free soloers eventually experience. The fact that it didn’t leaves you feeling in awe of what you’ve witnessed, like the filmmakers themselves, and thankful that they (and Alex’s) luck held out in reaching and preserving the glory for all to see.

SHOPLIFTERS * * * * (Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)

Secrets and lies abound in this unconventional family drama

At its core, Shoplifters is a movie about empathy. It asks you to empathize with a family of six- a mom and dad, two kids, an aunt and a grandma, all living together in a house barely big enough for one, all struggling to survive in the kind of abject poverty we all recognize and wish we didn’t. This family does whatever it takes to make it, and holds each other together through the rough patches (which are daily), and even if the dad teaches the kids his only skill, shoplifting, as a survival tool, can you blame him when you look at what they’re up against? Family stays together, takes care of each other, helps each other. But what constitutes the meaning of the word family? To the outside it looks like a unit, exactly how I described it. But as this extraordinary film progresses, various layers unfold that reveal piece by piece exactly what sort of “family” this really is and challenges you to ask yourself if the assumptions you held about families still hold in the face of an upside down reality. Writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda has made a humanist masterpiece in Shoplifters, the kind of film that will grab anyone by telling a universal story with empathy for each fully realized character. The performances given by this ensemble cast are natural and so authentic you feel yourself becoming absorbed in the lives of these people and believing in the lies they tell themselves to strengthen the bond between them, even as it flies in the face of the moral clarity we pretend to hold dear. Is it right to do what’s wrong for who you love? Is it wrong to create your own universe of rules and morals that apply to a select few and then abide by them as long as the rest of the world doesn’t see you doing it? These questions sneak up on you in a film that settles deep in your bones with the kind of impact rarely achieved and reserved for that of a master storyteller. It’s by far one of the best films of the year.